Newsline - January 24, 1996

YELTSIN, ZAVGAEV ON CHECHEN PROSPECTS. President Boris Yeltsin met on 23
January with his envoy to Chechnya, Security Council Secretary Oleg Lobov, to
discuss the situation in Chechnya and sign a decree on the economic restoration
of the republic in 1996, Interfax reported. Addressing the first session of the
new Federation Council on the same day, Yeltsin reiterated the Russian
leadership's commitment to resolving the Chechen conflict through "patient
dialog" with all parties concerned while at the same time cracking down on
terrorism and hostage taking. Meanwhile, the exchange of hostages taken at
Pervomaiskoe for the bodies of Salman Raduev's men who were killed there failed
to take place as scheduled on 23 January because Russian investigators had not
succeeded in identifying all 153 corpses found in the village, Russian media
reported. -- Liz Fuller

YABLOKO TO PROPOSE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE. The Yabloko Duma faction has
collected 45 of the 90 signatures needed to call a vote of no confidence
following the government's handling of the Pervomaiskoe hostage crisis, Russian
media reported on 23 January. However, Duma Speaker Gennadii Seleznev said the
Communist Party probably will not support Yabloko's motion, since the party is
satisfied with the recent cabinet reshuffle, especially the resignations of
Andrei Kozyrev and Anatolii Chubais. Seleznev said the Communist deputies will
reserve judgment until they see the government's new proposals. -- Laura
Belin

ZHIRINOVSKY PRAISES YELTSIN. Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) leader
Vladimir Zhirinovsky said that he liked President Boris Yeltsin's position on
terrorism in Russia and his "corrections to the course of reform," ITAR-TASS
reported 23 January. Zhirinovsky emphasized that he would not criticize the
government if its policies started to produce a real improvement in the lives
of ordinary Russians. Zhirinovsky's remarks followed Yeltsin's speech opening
the Federation Council session. Zhirinovsky has often supported Yeltsin
policies in the past and may now be seeking a more overt alliance with the
incumbent president to win ministerial appointments for his party. -- Robert
Orttung

LAST TWO DUMA COMMITTEE HEADS APPROVED. Nikolai Gerasimenko and Vladimir
Goman were appointed to chair the Duma committees on health and northern
affairs, ITAR-TASS reported on 23 January. Both are from the centrist Russian
Regions faction, which initially refused to fill the Duma posts allocated to it
on the grounds that the committees had been unfairly distributed. -- Laura
Belin

FEDERATION COUNCIL ELECTS FORMER POLITBURO MEMBER AS CHAIRMAN. The
Federation Council elected former Politburo member and now Orel Oblast Governor
Yegor Stroev as its new chairman on 23 January, Russian media reported. Stroev
ran unopposed. He stressed that his priorities would be to address the problems
of federalism, including the "complete lack of coordination" among Russia's
regions and republics. He added that he would also work on improving the
attendance records of Council members; the previous Council often had
difficulty gathering a quorum because its members were too busy to come to its
sessions. Stroev has been a member of the Our Home Is Russia leadership since
May. He was elected governor of Orel Oblast on 11 April 1993 and won 80% of the
vote in his December 1993 campaign for a seat in the Federation Council. --
Robert Orttung

DUMA PROTESTS BALTIN SACKING. The Duma on 23 January passed a resolution
"firmly protesting" the recent decision by President Yeltsin and his Ukrainian
counterpart, Leonid Kuchma, to dismiss Admiral Eduard Baltin as commander of
the Black Sea Fleet, ITAR-TASS reported (see OMRI Daily Digest, 22
January 1996). The resolution, passed by a vote of 276-2, was sponsored by
Communist Deputy Valentin Varennikov, a1991 coup plotter who now chairs the
Veteran's Affairs Committee, and Lt. Gen. (ret.) Aleksandr Lebed. The
resolution said Baltin's departure effectively signaled "the dismantling of the
entire Black Sea Fleet" and indirectly criticized Yeltsin for submitting to
pressure from Kuchma to sack Baltin. The uncompromising Baltin had long been
viewed as an obstacle to a resolution of the Black Sea Fleet dispute. Russian
military sources have still not confirmed his dismissal. -- Scott Parrish

KOVALEV QUITS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION. Human rights activist Sergei
Kovalev resigned on 23 January from his post as head of the presidential Human
Rights Commission, Russian media reported. Kovalev also said he has decided to
leave the Presidential Council. Another prominent reformer, Yegor Gaidar,
stepped down from the council, a consultative body, on 22 January. In an open
letter to President Yeltsin, Kovalev said he was resigning his posts because of
Yeltsin's preference for using forceful methods to solve political problems,
the increasing secrecy surrounding the state apparatus, neglect of public
opinion, and personnel changes. The parliament stripped Kovalev of the post of
human rights commissioner in March for his outspoken opposition to the
government's policy in Chechnya, and he has effectively been ignored by
Yeltsin. -- Penny Morvant

DUMA TAKES A HAND IN ST. PETERSBURG PROFESSORS' DISPUTE. The Duma on 23
January recommended that the government take urgent measures to ensure that
teachers at higher education establishments in St. Petersburg and elsewhere are
paid their wages, ITAR-TASS reported. About 15 union representatives went on
hunger strike in Russia's second city on 22 January to press for payment of the
government's 200 billion ruble ($43 million) debt to local colleges. In a
resolution on wage arrears, the Duma instructed the Russian Federation
Accounting Chamber to run a special check on the disbursement of funds to
higher education establishments under the 1995 budget. Newly appointed Deputy
Prime Minister Vladimir Kinelev claimed that in 1995 the government had been
better at fulfilling its budget obligations to the education sector than in
1994 but acknowledged that some areas had been affected by delays in January
payments. -- Penny Morvant

DID ORT CENSOR "VZGLYAD"? Executives at Russian Public TV (ORT) "have
not forgotten Soviet propaganda methods," Segodnya reported on 23
January. The paper reported that last week's edition of Aleksandr Lyubimov's
news program "Vzglyad" (View) was broadcast on Channel 1 to the Far East in its
entirety, but portions about the shelling of Pervomaiskoe were removed from
broadcasts west of the Urals. Lyubimov is also a vice president of the VID
television company which produces "Vzglyad." He told Segodnya that under
ORT's contract with VID, the network does not have the right to alter VID
programs without prior agreement. "Vzglyad" was a groundbreaking news program
during the Gorbachev era, launching young journalists like Lyubimov and the
late Vladislav Listev to national fame. According to Segodnya, during
the Soviet period authorities routinely broadcast a "sharp" version of the show
in the Far East but toned it down for European parts of the Soviet Union. --
Laura Belin

RESHUFFLE OF REGIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS CONTINUES. On 22 January,
President Boris Yeltsin dismissed the administration heads of Chita, Ivanovo,
and Kaluga oblasts, Russian media reported. The day before, Yeltsin had removed
his representative in Krasnodar Krai, Vasilii Teterin, the sixth presidential
envoy to be fired in the post-election reshuffle of regional officials. The
dismissal of governors will leave the regions concerned with only one
representative in the Federation Council instead of two for the rest of the
year. By law, the parliament's upper house is composed of both executive and
legislative heads from every region, but Yeltsin has barred gubernatorial
elections from taking place before December 1996. -- Anna Paretskaya

YELTSIN URGES COUNCIL OF EUROPE TO ADMIT RUSSIA. President Yeltsin urged
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to approve Russia's
application for membership on 23 January, Russian and Western agencies
reported. The assembly is scheduled to vote on the issue on 25 January, and
recent developments in Chechnya have again cast doubt on whether Russia's
application for membership in the 38-member organization, pending since 1992,
will finally be approved. Yeltsin argued that a rejection of the Russian
application would strike a blow against democracy in Russia, and would be
interpreted by many as indirect support for "those who are trying to resolve
the Chechen conflict through terrorist methods." -- Scott Parrish

HEAD OF NATO TROOPS VISITS MOSCOW. General George Joulwan, NATO's
Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, met with Russian Defense Minister Pavel
Grachev in Moscow on 23 January, Western agencies reported. He was quoted as
praising the Russian forces who are taking part in the Bosnian peace
implementation operation, saying they were "well-trained, well-equipped,
well-led, and well-motivated." Grachev express concern at the tension between
Bosnian Croats and Muslims in the region where his troops are stationed. "If we
are dragged into a minor shootout," he told Joulwan, "things could escalate."
-- Doug Clarke

DEFENSE COMMITTEE GETS NEW CHAIRMAN. President Yeltsin dismissed Viktor
Glukhikh as chairman of the Russian State Committee for the Defense Industry
(Roskomoboronprom) on 23 January and replaced him with Zinovii Pak, Interfax
reported. Glukhikh had headed the committee since October 1992. Pak, 56, was
the director of the Soyuz defense enterprise in Lyuberets, near Moscow,
according to Ekho Moskvy on 23 January. The same source reported that the
average salary in defense plants in December was only 414,000 rubles ($90) a
month, compared to 616,000 ($135) for the industrial sector as a whole. -- Doug
Clarke

CHEMICAL WEAPONS DESTRUCTION FACILITY TO BE BUILT. Work on a facility to
destroy chemical weapons will begin this fall in the village of Gornyi (Saratov
Oblast), NTV reported on 22 January. The plant, which will destroy lewisite
stored in steel tanks at a Gornyi arsenal, is scheduled to become operational
in 1997, although the Duma has yet to appropriate financing for it. In 1989
Russia built a facility in Chapaevsk (Samara Oblast) to destroy chemical
weapons, but the plant never went into operation because residents complained
it was too close to the city. Current plans call for Russia's 40,000 tons of
chemical weapons to be destroyed at facilities built near the seven arsenals in
which they are stored. -- Scott Parrish and Doug Clarke

PRODUCTION OF OIL AND GAS DECLINED IN 1995. Russia produced 307 million
metric tons of crude oil in 1995, a 2.9% drop compared to 1994, Interfax
reported on 23 January, citing the State Statistics Committee. In 1994 the
extraction of oil and gas condensate declined 10% over 1993. The production of
crude oil alone fell by 3.8% and totaled 298 million tons. The oil output of
joint-stock companies with foreign participation climbed by 29% to 13.5 million
tons. In 1995 Russia's production of natural gas fell by 2% from 1994 to 570
billion cubic meters, of which 98% was produced by Gazprom. -- Natalia
Gurushina

NIYAZOV VISITS TEHRAN . . . Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov and his
Iraniancounterpart, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, signed accords on
oil, gas, agriculture, the construction of roads and a joint dam on the Hari
River, the linking of both countries' power networks, and the channeling of
water to the Turkmen city of Merv, IRNA reported on 23 January. In a statement
aimed at Azerbaijan, the two leaders expressed their concern at the "unilateral
and uncontrolled exploitation of the Caspian Sea." -- Lowell Bezanis

. . . AND TALKS WITH TAJIK OPPOSITION LEADER. While in Tehran, Niyazov
met with Tajik opposition leader Said Abdullah Nuri, RFE/RL reported the same
day. He informed Nuri that the CIS summit in Moscow had decided to extend the
mandate of the Russian-led CIS peacekeepers in Tajikistan, and called on Tajik
President Imomali Rakhmonov to aggressively pursue a negotiated peace
settlement. The next round of inter-Tajik talks will resume on 26 January in
Ashgabat. -- Lowell Bezanis

ENERGY CRISIS IN ALMATY. Fuel shortages have caused suspensions of hot
water and electricity to many residential areas of Almaty, according to a 17
January Interfax report. A city administration official was quoted as saying
that fuel reserves at power plants will last about three to four days. Fuel
shortages have severely curtailed the refueling of flights arriving at Almaty,
although foreign airlines that have already paid for fuel are not affected. --
Bhavna Dave

KYRGYZ NEWSPAPER CLOSES. The Kyrgyz newspaper Stolitsa, which
began publishing in November 1995, will close down, according to the paper's
editor-in-chief, Kuban Mambetaliev. The independent paper put out only thirteen
editions but in that short time acquired a reputation as an opposition voice.
MambetAliyev wrote in the 19 January edition of Stolitsa, "An epoch of
criticizing is gone, now we need analysis of cause and effect." The closure of
Stolitsa will leave only one truly independent newspaper in the country,
Res Publica. -- Bruce Pannier

CRIMEAN NEWS. The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Max van
der Stoel arrived in Ukraine on 24 January to examine issues related to Crimean
autonomy, ITAR-TASS reported. Van der Stoel will look into problems surrounding
the Tatar minority on the peninsula and its draft constitution. In other news,
ITAR-TASS on 23 January reported that Crimea has the highest organized crime
rate in Ukraine, and the lowest success rate for apprehending criminals.
According to Crimean Prosecutor-General Hryhorii Vorsinov, no one has been
arrested for any of the 75 contract killings carried out last year;only 32 of
the 170 most serious criminal cases were brought to court. Vorsinov said he
would take a tough stand against the peninsula's security organs. -- Ustina
Markus

BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT ON RE-ELECTION, OTHER PLANS. Alyaksandr Lukashenka
has said he plans to run for re-election in 1999, Interfax reported on 23
January. He noted that he intends to give the country's six regional executive
councils the right to liquidate commercial structures deemed detrimental to the
state's interests. Lukashenka added that there would be "serious talks" about
the 71,000 commercial enterprises registered in the republic. The Economic News
Agency on 22 January reported that Lukashenka signed a decree earlier this
month introducing a 10% duty on all foreign currency purchases at the country's
Interbank Currency Exchange. Revenues are to be used for the newly established
State Support Fund for Exporters. Those buying foreign currency to purchase
vital goods will be exempt from the tax, as will those exchanging one currency
for another. -- Ustina Markus

BALTIC DEFENSE MINISTERS CONCLUDE 1996 COOPERATION PLAN. Andrus Oovel
(Estonia), Andres Krastins (Latvia), and Linas Linkevicius (Lithuania),
following two days of talks in Tallinn, have signed a cooperation plan for
1996, ETA reported on 23 January. Oovel told a press conference that top
priorities are preparing the Baltic peacekeeping battalion Baltbat, creating a
joint air space surveillance system, and improving the cooperation among the
navies. He noted that there were no plans to create a Baltic military union.
The three ministers confirmed their desire for closer cooperation with NATO by
sending peacekeepers to Bosnia and participating in Partnership for Peace
programs. -- Saulius Girnius

NEW HEAD OF ESTONIAN DEFENSE FORCES APPROVED. The Estonian parliament on
23 January voted by 48 to 24 with seven abstentions to appoint Lt. Col.
Johannes Kert as commander-in-chief of the defense forces, ETA reported. The
36-year-old Kert was the head of the volunteer Defense League. He has little
formal military education but attended courses on strategic planning at the
Marshall Center in Germany. President Lennart Meri promoted him to the rank of
colonel later that day. -- Saulius Girnius

LITHUANIAN REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN FAILS. Seimas deputy Kazimieras
Antanavicius on 23 January announced that the campaign to collect 300,000
signatures in two months in support of a referendum has been unsuccessful,
Radio Lithuania reported. The effort got under way in mid-November 1995. No
major political party supported the referendum, which contained such populist
measures as reducing the number of parliamentary deputies, administrative
officials, and ministries as well as revising tax laws. The referendum
organizers initially said some 270,000 signatures had been collected but later
revised that figure to 206,000. -- Saulius Girnius

POLISH PRIME MINISTER READY TO RESIGN?Gazeta Wyborcza on 24
January writes that Jozef Oleksy is expected to resign tomorrow, when the
inquiry into spy allegations against him is due to be launched by the Warsaw
Military Prosecutor's Office. In the event of the premier's resignation,
President Aleksander Kwasniewski has 14 days to appoint a new prime minister
and government. Heads of the regional Polish Peasant Party (PSL) organizations,
meeting on 23 January in Lublin, were in favor of Oleksy's resignation and
changes in some ministerial posts. Head of the Central Planning Office Miroslaw
Pietrewicz said he has been asked by the PSL to lead a new government and that
he has agreed "in principle," Polish dailies reported on 24 January. -- Jakub
Karpinski

FORMER POLISH PRESIDENT INITIATES POLITICAL TALKS. Lech Walesa, after
meeting on 23 January with Freedom Union leaders Leszek Balcerowicz and
Bronislaw Geremek, says he sees two possibilities with regard to the future of
the opposition: the creation of either a unified bloc or two blocs--one
center-left, the other center-right. Walesa wants to meet with the leaders of
15 political groupings on 1 February, Polish dailies reported on 24 January. --
Jakub Karpinski

CZECH REPUBLIC SUBMITS EU APPLICATION. Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus on 23
January submitted the Czech Republic's formal application to join the European
Union. He handed it to Italian Prime Minister Lamberto Dini, the current EU
chairman, during a two-day visit to Rome. In a memorandum accompanying the
application, the Czech government said that it welcomed the process of European
integration and that the Czech Republic has traditionally been a part of
Western European civilization, Czech media reported. The Czech Republic is the
ninth postcommunist country to apply for EU membership; Hungary and Poland
submitted their applications in 1994, while Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania,
Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania followed suit last year. -- Steve Kettle

SLOVAK-UKRAINIAN AGREEMENTS SIGNED. Slovak and Ukrainian cabinet
officials, meeting in the High Tatras on 23 January, signed agreements on
double taxation, tax evasion, and cultural cooperation. The two governments
discussed cooperation in the armaments industry and conversion as well as
construction of a highway linking the two countries, which Slovakia wants to
complete by the year 2005. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk said he and
his Slovak counterpart, Vladimir Meciar, discussed in detail the creation of a
free trade zone. Marchuk, who expressed discontent over the 1995 volume of
bilateral trade of $290 million, said the talks have paved the way to increase
this amount to up to $1 billion in 1996, Narodna obroda reported. --
Sharon Fisher

HUNGARIAN DEFENSE MINISTER IN BOSNIA, CROATIA. Gyorgy Keleti met with
IFOR commander in chief Admiral Leighton Smith and Bosnian Defense Minister
Jadranko Prlic in Sarajevo on 23 January to discuss Hungarian participation in
the Bosnian peacekeeping effort, Hungarian media reported. Prlic said Bosnia
welcomes the presence of the Hungarian technical battalion and thanked Hungary
for receiving Bosnian refugees during the war. During his three-day visit,
Keleti met with Serbian military officials in Belgrade and Croatian Defense
Minister Gojko Susak in Zagreb. He announced that a Hungarian-Croatian military
agreement will be signed in Budapest in early February. -- Zsofia
Szilagyi

HAGUE TRIBUNAL "LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE." AFP on 23 January reported that
British Prime Minister John Major told a questioner in the parliament that
British troops would conduct foot patrols and air surveys to prevent the
destruction of evidence of atrocities. In The Hague, a spokesman for the war
crimes tribunal said that investigations of mass grave sites near Srebrenica
would begin soon. The Czech daily Mlada fronta Dnes on 24 January noted
that the court is "launching an offensive" against war criminals. Nasa
Borba added that hearings will soon be held in the case of several persons
previously indicted, including the major figures: Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan
Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, and the Croats Dario Kordic and General
Tihomir Blaskic. The court will also report to the UN Security Council the
names of countries that are not cooperating in prosecuting war criminals. --
Patrick Moore

NATO CERTIFIES BOSNIAN SERB COMPLIANCE BUT SANCTIONS REMAIN. NATO has
sent a letter to the UN certifying that the parties to the Bosnian conflict
have "complied with the requirement to withdraw their forces from the zones of
separation," international agencies reported on 23 January. Under the terms of
a November 1995 UN Security Council resolution on the Dayton peace accords,
this should have led to the automatic suspension of sanctions against the
Bosnian Serbs. But European members of the council are apparently unwilling to
agree to a lifting of the sanctions without more detailed information. Bosnian
Serb Prime Minister Rajko Kasagic told Radio Bijeljina that he did not
understand why sanctions had not been lifted yet. He underscored that the
Republic Srpska has sought to cooperate not only with rump Yugoslavia but also
with Croatia. -- Michael Mihalka and Daria Sito Sucic

DATA EXCHANGE AT OSCE ARMS CONTROL TALKS. The exchange of data on major
weapons took place at the OSCE arms control talks on 23 January, after a delay
of 10 days, international agencies reported. Belgrade had cited "technical
reasons" for its failure to hand in its list. Croatia and the Bosnian warring
factions are also participating in the talks. Norwegian General Vigleik Eide,
who is chairing the talks, called the exchange of data, "a very important step"
but said that a "lot of work" would be necessary to convince all sides that the
data are reliable. -- Michael Mihalka

IFOR TIGHTENS SECURITY FOLLOWING EXTREMIST THREAT. IFOR has tightened
security following reports that Muslim extremist groups may attack US targets
in Bosnia. The New York Times on 24 January reported that attacks would
be in retaliation for the sentencing of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman this month in
New York. U.S. intelligence has reported a recent increase in activities of
Islamic volunteer groups who have been seen observing U.S. installations.
"Foreign fighters" were supposed to have left Bosnia by 19 January, but many
have reportedly remained, including 150-200 Iranian Revolutionary Guards. --
Michael Mihalka

SANDZAK MUSLIMS URGED NOT TO HELP "ETHNIC CLEANSING." Sarajevo's
Vecernje novine on 24 January reported that Bosnia's governing Muslim
party, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), has appealed to Muslims in Sandzak
not to exchange their homes and other real estate with Bosnian Serbs. This
practice is followed by some Bosnian Muslims and helps solidify "ethnic
cleansing" by creating ethnically homogenous areas, which is contrary to the
concept of Bosnia as a multiethnic state, set down in the Dayton agreement and
endorsed especially by the Sarajevo government. Sandzak is divided between
Serbia and Montenegro, but its Muslim majority feels close to the Bosnian
Muslims and is led by the SDA. Sarajevo is apparently anxious lest the Muslim
position in Sandzak be weakened. -- Patrick Moore

MILOSEVIC ALLIES HIT BOSNIAN CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Since the signing of the
Dayton peace accords, open challenges to the virtual monopoly held by Bosnia's
three main ethnically-based parties have gradually emerged. One threat to
Radovan Karadzic's Serbian Democratic Party comes from the Socialist Party of
the Republika Srpska (SPRS), which appears to be a clone of Serbian President
Slobodan Milosevic's Socialists. Nasa Borba on 24 January reported that
a delegation from the SPRS and its ally the United Left called on their mentor
in Belgrade to discuss the situation in Bosnia and to urge closer links between
the Republika Srpska and Serbia. AFP reported from Brcko that SPRS leader
Dragutin Ilic told voters that their key to the future is to "put in place a
social system resembling that of [rump] Yugoslavia" and that his party is the
one to bring close ties with Belgrade about. Ilic, like so many of the
politicians in postcommunist ex-Yugoslavia, is a medical doctor by profession.
-- Patrick Moore

SERBIAN RADICAL SAYS HE WILL TESTIFY AGAINST MILOSEVIC. Vojislav Seselj,
leader of the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party and an accused war
criminal, has said he wants to go the Hague to testify against Serbian
President Slobodan Milosevic, international media reported on 23 January.
Seselj maintained he can prove that Milosevic is responsible for war crimes
throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina and that Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic
and his military counterpart, Ratko Mladic, were only indirectly, if at all,
responsible for commanding forces in Bosnia. Seselj noted that key members of
the Bosnian Serb military command structure remain on Belgrade's payroll.
Earlier this month, Seselj complained bitterly about difficulties he had
encountered in obtaining a passport, prompting speculation that Milosevic wants
to keep Seselj in Serbia so that he cannot testify. -- Stan Markotich

CROATIA TO ACCEPT EU ARBITRATION IN MOSTAR. Croatian Foreign Minister
Mate Granic has told the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that Croatia will
accept EU arbitration in Mostar if Croats and Muslims cannot solve their
dispute by themselves, Nasa Borba reported on 24 January. Granic also
informed the council that more than 2O suspected war criminals in Croatia would
go on trial. He added that over 1,000 suspected war criminals were currently
being investigated. The Croatian parliament is expected to pass a bill next
month on cooperation with the Hague-based International War Crimes Tribunal. --
Daria Sito Sucic

MONTENEGRIN-BRITISH SOCIETY FOUNDED. Montena-fax on 23 January reported
that a Montenegrin-British Society has opened in Cetinje. Its function is to
foster bilateral ties, specifically in areas such as science, culture, and
sports. British government official Ivor Roberts noted that ties between
Britain and Montenegro have historically been close and mutually beneficial. --
Stan Markotich

IS BELGRADE BLOCKING USIA OFFICE IN KOSOVO? Margit Savovic, rump
Yugoslav Minister without portfolio in charge of civil liberties and minority
rights, on 22 January said "Kosovo and Metohija are an integral part of Serbia
and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia," adding that Serbia will not allow this
issue to be internationalized, MILS reported on 23 January. Savovic was
referring to plans, announced earlier this month by U.S. negotiator Richard
Holbrooke, to open a U.S. representation in the province--probably a USIA
office. She pointed out that the U.S. would have to consult with Belgrade
before opening the office. Turkey is also reportedly considering opening a
consular office in Pristina. -- Fabian Schmidt

NEW MACEDONIAN CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF TAKES OVER. President Kiro
Gligorov on 23 January appointed Col. Gen. Trajche Krstevski as chief of
general staff. He replaces Col. Gen. Dragoljub Bocinov, who recently retired.
Krstevski was a career officer in the former Yugoslav army for 30 years. He
left his last post in Croatia in 1991 to return to Macedonia and was appointed
deputy chief of general staff in April 1992. -- Stefan Krause

ROMANIAN-MOLDOVAN DIPLOMATIC NEWS. Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor
Melescanu on 23 January received a Moldovan delegation headed by Deputy Foreign
Minister Aurelian Danila. Romanian media reported that the two sides discussed
organizing an inter-ministerial meeting in Chisinau and decided to restart
negotiations on a bilateral basic treaty. The same day, a Romanian group
seeking the liberation of Ilie Ilascu, who is currently detained in Tiraspol
for alleged terrorist acts against the self-proclaimed Dniester authorities,
announced they were seeking the reunification of Moldova with Romania. They
also proposed the formation of a "unification group" in the Romanian
parliament, saying that "the signing of treaties with Ukraine and Moldova is
too sensitive a matter to be left in the hands of the Foreign Ministry." --
Matyas Szabo

MOLDOVAN, DNIESTER LEADERS MEET. Leaders of the Republic of Moldova and
the self-proclaimed "Dniester republic" met in Chisinau on 23 January, Infotag
reported. The Moldovan team included President Mircea Snegur, Parliamentary
Chairman Petru Lucinschi, and Finance Minister Valeriu Chitan. President Igor
Smirnov and Supreme Soviet Chairman Grigorii Marakutsa headed the Dniester
side. The meeting focused on economic issues, especially how to implement a
July 1995 agreement on monetary and credit arrangements. The Dniester leaders
asked Chisinau not to hinder the transportation of Dniester bank notes, printed
in Munich, through Moldovan territory. Infotag reported that the meeting was
brokered by the OSCE mission in Moldova and by the special envoys of the
Russian and Ukrainian presidents to the Moldovan-Dniester negotiations. -- Dan
Ionescu

WAS BULGARIAN MINISTERS' ELECTION ILLEGAL? The Union of Democratic
Forces (SDS) has issued a statement saying the 23 January election of Atanas
Paparizov and Svetoslav Shivarov as trade and agriculture ministers violated
parliamentary procedures, Demokratsiya reported. The opposition objects
to the fact that the old ministers were dismissed and the new ones appointed
without debate. The opposition boycotted the vote, and both the SDS and the
People's Union are reportedly considering taking the matter to the
Constitutional Court. Meanwhile, former Deputy Prime Minister and Trade
Minister Kiril Tsochev told Standart that he already had decided to quit
in October 1995 because he was under constant criticism from the Socialists. --
Stefan Krause

TURKEY TO TRAIN BOSNIAN GOVERNMENT ARMY. Turkey will provide military
training to the Bosnian government army under an agreement signed in Sarajevo
on 22 January, Reuters reported. Further details on the agreement were
unavailable. Bosnian General Rasim Delic, who signed the protocol for the
Bosnian side, noted that the agreement "is only a beginning" and that "we
expect huge aid from Turkey." -- Lowell Bezanis